"One conversation with a wise man is worth ten years study from books..."

Fifty years ago, Carlos Casteneda brought us the wisdom he had gleaned from studies with a Yaqui medicine man. Now, in the 21st century, Three Initiates share some of the knowledge and understanding they have learned from training with Ninja Master Ashida Kim and his teacher the mysterious Guru. To be sure, there were lessons in martial arts, stealth and invisibility, in meditation and Qi Gong. But, the tales of courage and patriotism and adventure are what opened the portals of self-knowledge and brought them to the threshold of truth. When Ashida Kim appeared on the scene during the "Ninja Craze" of the eighties, he was often challenged to produce some documentation of his Ninjitsu training. He always said he learned it in the Army, and that the tradition was not to reveal your training, having "no name-no art." This is the de-classified story of the Guru, his father, brother, teacher, friend and mentor. It is hoped that this chronicle of a life well lived will be of some benefit to other Seekers on the Way.

"When the Three Initiates asked to do a book about my teacher they decided to tell a few of the anecdotes they had heard about his teachings and include the exercises he had taught as a way of preserving the techniques and honoring his instruction. The first book was so well received that calls for more of the same, resulted in a series of books:
Guru and the Ninja, Guru Was A Gambler, and the Guru Testament. But, what people wanted was the legend of how Ashida Kim met the Guru, his hidden teacher, and their adventures on the quest for self-knowledge. Now it can be told."

In this Deluxe Edition are many of the lessons and tests from the Guru, any one of which may change your life. Some of them appear in the other books that include the exercises, but many have never before been shared. And, each is a glimpse into a a different reality, another time and place, in the age of wonder.

When Ashida Kim mysteriously appeared on the Ninja scene in the eighties, there were many questions about his training, lineage, skill, techniques and such like by critics and naysayers who were trying to monopolize the martial arts industry with deceptive and illegal business practices. Nor was Kim the only one they went after. Kim was often challenged to produce even one of his teachers to prove he had actually trained in Ninjitsu. He always replied that he had learned it in the Army.

This is the de-classified story of that experience. Ashida Kim reveals here, for the first time ever in print, the history and secret techniques, the great lessons of life he was taught by the Guru. Far more than was ever expected.

“I have lived a long and healthy life and I have only learned three things. It is better to know than be ignorant, better to tell the truth than to lie, better to be free than be a slave. These lessons and techniques that I share with you are all confirmations of those truths. Listen to the music of the spheres, dance as if no one were watching. Because then you will know that something wonderful is about to happen, and you are part of it.”